social impact theory

• social impact theory


  refers to changes that occur in a person (cognitive, behavioural and emotional) due to the presence or actions of others
• sources


  are the people who are influencing others

  e.g those giving the order
• targets 


  people who are being influenced by the source

  e.g those who are being given an order
• number


  the more sources that are saying the same thing are more likely to influence the targets leading them to being more obedient

  but if the source is bigger than 3 each source has less impact
• strength


  if the source is a legitimate authority figure who has status and knowledge they will have more influence over the targets being obedient
• immediacy


  obedience is higher if the message is from a source who is a known figure or in close proximity to the target
• multiplication effect 


  increasing the number, strength and immediacy of the source will increase the social influence making targets more obedient
• divisional effect


  obedience levels will reduce if there are more targets than sources
• i = f(SIN)


  (i) magnitude of social impact is (f) dependent on the function, (S) strength of the source, (I) immediacy of the source and (N) the number of people affected

  this suggest that the strength of social impact will be greater if the sources of influence is an individual of higher status, close members of the group (in time and space) and when there are a great number of individuals in a group

  this model can be used to make predictions about how strong a social impact is likely to affect an individual
• social impact theory: sedikides and Jackson 1990 (+)


  found that participants complied with he zoo keeper in the bird house more (58% above baseline) than the non-uniformed person (35% above baseline)

  this shows that legitimacy of the authority figure is an important factor when obeying
• social impact theory: milligram 7 (+)


  in variation 7 of milligrams research only 22.5% of participants went up to 450v as the instructions were given over the phone

  this shows that the proximity of an authority figure is an important factor in obedient behaviour
• social impact theory: hofling 1966 (-)


  found that 95% of nurses gave a dose of drug that exceeded the max allowed when ordered to by a doctor over the phone (against hospital rules)

  this shows that people do not need to have immediacy when flowing authority and obeying orders
• social impact theory: milgram 10 (-)

  in milgrams variation 10 47.5% of people went to 450v when instructed to do so, in a run down office block

  this shows that situational factors like surroundings also have an impact on obedience not just strength, number and immediacy